


let me play among the stars

by vailserenity



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Chapter 5 Spoilers, M/M, conversations in the exisal hangar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:41:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25139407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vailserenity/pseuds/vailserenity
Summary: (v3 chapter 5 spoilers)“Oh my god, Momota-” Kokichi cuts himself off with another fit of laughter. Momota is looking more and more concerned, frantically scanning the room for another bottle of antidote to magically appear and knock some sense back into Kokichi. “We’re about to die.”Momota nods slowly, like he thinks Kokichi is crazy. In all honesty, he probably does.“Yeah. I know that.”“And we’re sitting here like we’re friends. When I don’t even have an hour left!”
Relationships: Momota Kaito & Oma Kokichi, Momota Kaito/Oma Kokichi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 148





	let me play among the stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [soupticblasts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/soupticblasts/gifts).



> i hope u enjoy some oumota just vibing prior to the whole. both of them dying thing in chapter 5. happy birthday scott!! title taken from fly me to the moon :)

“You _actually expect_ me to go along with this?”

“Well, of course! You want to stop the mastermind, don’t you?”

  
  
“You _actually expect_ me to trust you?”

“Do you think I’d give you the antidote if _I_ didn’t trust you to trust me?”

There are a few facts to the situation they are in: Kokichi is minutes, maybe an hour away from death; Momota is hours, maybe a few days if he’s lucky. Kokichi’s blood is smeared onto Harukawa’s hands, and the only thing Momota can do to wipe it away is to trust Kokichi. They both know this. Otherwise, Harukawa will be the third death in the next few hours.

“Honestly? Yes. I don’t think you _trust_ me, Ouma, I think you’re using me as a pawn and holding the antidote and Maki over me.”

  
  
“How does it feel being wrong, Momota? A little tang in your mouth, perhaps? A little bit like cough syrup?”

“ _That’s_ just the taste of the antidote mixed with my own blood. Here’s my question: _why?_ Why trust me, over Shuichi, or, hell, even Kiibo - you sure joke around with him a lot.”

Kokichi sighs. For all of Momota’s openness, he had expected to know him a little better than this by now; he didn’t remember him being this dumb last time they spoke.

“You think anyone else would go along with all this? They all think I’m the mastermind, Momota, it’s not exactly _hard_ to put together why I chose you.”

“You’re making a lot of assumptions that _I’m_ going to go along with this. Maybe if you didn’t announce that you were the mastermind, we’d trust you more.”

Kokichi hates people like this, who think that trust is the quickest way to victory, who think that friendship can stop murders and bonds can keep everyone alive. Clearly, none of them learnt anything from the game; it’s not difficult to tell that friends and allies only lead to grief and betrayal and disappointment, to sadness when they’re gone or to anger when they inevitably go against you. And so, Kokichi stays away from friends, and allies, and bonds. He has pawns, chess pieces, that’s it.

Or, maybe that’s just a lie he tells himself. Plausible deniability, and all that. 

Still, Saihara plays games with him. Momota protected him from death, albeit for someone else’s benefit. Amami listened to his jokes, and he and Iruma had _something_ , not entirely explainable, but enough for it to hurt when he saw through her plans to kill him. Well, it would’ve hurt if Kokichi Ouma had friends, but he didn’t, so, problem solved!

The thing Kokichi Ouma is most scared of is Momota seeing through him in this instance. Maybe, a part of him whispers, that’s why you chose him. Not because he'd be the only one who’d work for your plan, but the only one who’d see the real you and call you out on it.

Kaito Momota says nothing. There is silence in the Exisal hanger.

“I don’t think we have any time for games before I die… well, that’s a shame!”

It’s the only thing Kokichi can think to say; he’s always thinking, musing on the correct way to reach his goal with the most precise strokes and diction, knowing the phrases that will push people away enough for him not to care about their fate in his plans or vice versa. That is a constant. Momota’s presence is enough to make him speechless.

There is something between them, an intangible feeling in the air of the Exisal hangar. Kokichi is looking death in the eyes, right next to a man who inspired so many people to live. Momota’s optimism means nothing in the face of inevitably, but Kokichi wishes for a moment that it could, that Momota’s belief and faith could expel the poison from his veins and Momota’s lungs, could wipe away the blood from Harukawa’s hands and the black marks on Kokichi’s reputation that he has carefully placed in order to protect himself and his classmates from the mastermind.

  
  
“You’re going to talk about games right now? That’s what I hate about you, Ouma, even at a time like this, you’re never serious.”

Kokichi planned for this moment to happen. Momota saying that he hates him shouldn’t hurt as much as it does.

“You think I’m not _serious?_ I’m _dying_ , and all I’m asking is for your cooperation, to make all of this worth it. Trust me, Momota, because no matter _what_ happens I’m dying, and you’re dying. We have the chance to stop your girlfriend from dying, as well as end the killing game! You think I’d joke about this?”

  
  
“She’s not my- of course I want that, but forgive me for not trusting someone who’s done nothing but antagonize in the middle of a _killing game_.”

  
  
Silence. The air is heavy. Kokichi can almost feel the poison in his veins. He staggers slightly, and Momota flinches at his sudden moment before steadying him cautiously.

  
  
“Fine, I’ll help. I…” Momota trails off, looking indiscernibly away, towards the entrance of the hangar. “I trust you, Ouma. I’m only doing this because of Makiroll, and Shuichi, though - they need someone to be their hero, after all, and a real man knows when it’s his time to stand up for his friends!”

  
  
“Wow, complex, much?”

“Shut up! It’s not a complex, just- We all have our roles. Shuichi runs the show in the courtroom, and I’m the hero outside of it.”

Kokichi knows this better than most. He’s forced himself into the role of the antagonist, rescripting the lines to make it so the heroes hate him.

“And you’re the... I don’t know. Reflection to the hero. Not a villain, but not the hero, by any means. We’re working towards the same thing, after all. You can’t be the antagonist if you want the killing game to end. And, you do, don’t you?”

“Of course I do, unless you missed the _entire point of my plan?”_

Kokichi expects Momota to look a little annoyed at that. Instead, he says,  
  
“I wish we could’ve known each other before you decided that you had to be the villain. You’re in this inbetween state, not _good_ enough to be considered a hero, but nowhere near _evil_. I’m forced to hate you by circumstance, but in a different world…”

“You think, what, we could’ve been friends? I’m telling you right now, Momota, you could _not_ force me to do a push-up, no matter how hard you tried.” 

“You underestimate me! I got Shuichi to do one, and I’m pretty sure _that_ was a feat in and of itself. Maybe I should change my ultimate…? Super high school level personal trainer, how does that sound?”

“You complain about _me_ joking around, then talk about changing your ultimate? Neither of us will live long enough to see that, but feel free to ask for it on your headstone.”

Momota quietens, expression dark. Kokichi rolls his eyes, turning away from Momota. 

“Just making sure you didn’t forget about our impending mortality, Momota! Anyways, we have work to do. I’d give myself another 30 minutes before I drop dead, so we should go quickly!”

“Just as I was beginning to think I understood you, you decide to talk about that? Whatever, this isn’t worth wasting time on. You really won’t kill me whilst I’m under the hydraulic press?”

“And have myself die ten minutes later? I didn’t spend all that time writing instructions on what you’ll have to say as me for nothing! I even included illustrations, in case the words weren’t enough for you to understand.”

As he says this, he flicks to a random page featuring a skillfully drawn, almost photorealistic image of himself holding a gun. It’s a masterpiece, Kokichi thinks. He grins, showing it to Momota.

“See!”

“Oh, boy, I didn’t think it was possible for someone to be _that_ bad at drawing. I think that’s an ultimate talent in itself. And, hey, this page doesn’t even have words on it! It’s just this image of you holding a glock! How is this supposed to help me?”

Kokichi pouts. He put a lot of effort into this, even if this particular page of the script was only because he got bored with writing and needed a break. Momota shouldn’t be mocking a gift in the way he is.

And then, he remembers. He’s dying, and Momota’s dying. They’re in the Exisal hangar, two lives slipping away side by side. And they’re bantering over a doodle Kokichi made on a script so that Momota can pretend to be him once he’s dead. It’s extremely surreal.

He starts cackling. Momota is absolutely bewildered.

“Did you finally lose it? Is it the poison kicking in?”

“Oh my god, Momota-” Kokichi cuts himself off with another fit of laughter. Momota is looking more and more concerned, frantically scanning the room for another bottle of antidote to magically appear and knock some sense back into Kokichi. “We’re about to _die_.”

Momota nods slowly, like he thinks Kokichi is crazy. In all honesty, he probably does.

“Yeah. I know that.”

“And we’re sitting here like we’re _friends_ . When I don’t even have an hour left!”

  
  
Momota fails to grasp the humour in the situation. 

“Would you want to be, if we weren’t… you know?”

“About to die?”

“Yeah.”

“I- at least take me out to dinner first, Momota!” Kokichi jokes. Momota swats his head half-heartedly. Dying with somebody really does bring you closer together, who would’ve thought!

“Nevermind, I rescind the offer-”

“Wait! I. I think I’d like that, actually. Kokichi Ouma and Kaito Momota, best of friends! How things change!”

“Not necessarily _best_ of friends, but, yeah…”

Kokichi finds, inexplicably, that he’s happy. His smile isn’t forced, and there’s nothing but honesty to his words.

“Alright, Momota, my bestest friend in the whole wide world, let’s do this! Let’s stop wasting time, beat the mastermind, and make this the worst killing game in history!”

“If we’re friends now, you can call me Kaito, you know.”

“Wait, this is for real? I thought you were lying about wanting to be friends!”

Kokichi desperately hopes Momota will take this out, so that Kokichi doesn’t have to die knowing his _friend_ has hours to survive.

“I’m not _you_ , after all. We’re friends. Real friends end their killing game together, or something.”

  
  
“Okay then, Kaito! Here’s to our newly formed friendship, our impending mortality, and the killing game that’s going down with us!”

(A few minutes after that, Kokichi will lay on the cold steel of the hydraulic press. He will look at his friend, and pray that his plan will work. He will bask in the warmth of Kaito’s coat, grasp onto it. He will pretend he isn’t scared. With a brave face, he will say goodbye to Kaito, and hope that the tears slipping down his face are hidden by his hair and the press above him. He will close his eyes, and hope that he dies before he feels any pain. His friend will kill him. He will apologize as he does that, calling Kokichi by his name, and both of them will wish for a world where they could’ve met before Kokichi decided to take on the role of the villain for himself to protect his classmates. Kokichi will look upon death, crushed by a man who inspired so many others to live, and as the life slips away from him, he will hope that his efforts weren’t for nought and he can find peace in the stars.)

(A few hours after that, Kokichi will wake up. He will be coaxed from where he lays, informed that it was a simulation. He will look upon life, inspired to live by a man who inspired so many others to do the same thing, and learn that his efforts were not for nothing. He will awaken, and he will know he has a friend.)


End file.
